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Thursday, December 22, 2016

'EPF can dump FGV, but settlers are stuck with growing pains'

The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) may have dumped its shares in struggling Felda Global Ventures (FGV) but there is no easy way out for Felda settlers who suffered losses from purchasing the company's shares, said PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

"It is a pity for the settlers who are still paying monthly for their loans which were taken to pay for the FGV shares.

"It's now at RM1.63 per share, which is 63.5 percent lower compared to the value when it was first listed on Bursa Malaysia at RM4.45 in 2012," he said in a press statement last night.

In 2012, Putrajaya had promised the listing of the country's largest oil palm plantation would herald a new era and urged settlers to acquire FGV shares through loans.

Tuan Ibrahim said the fact that EPF, formerly a substantial shareholder in FGV, has offloaded all its shares, reflected how the fund had low confidence in the company.

Apart from suffering losses from FGV shares, Tuan Ibrahim said Felda settlers were also finding that the production of fresh fruit bunch under the company had fallen far behind the private sector.

"FGV's financial problems have also affected settlers, such as construction of homes for the second generation of settlers being abandoned.

"Payments for their fruits have also been delayed amid rising cost of living due to the fall in the ringgit," he said.

Tuan Ibrahim said he believed FGV's troubles would hurt the ruling coalition in the next general election, despite some analysts saying otherwise.

"If FGV shares continue to fall, who will rescue it?

"Like 1MDB, who else could it be if not the government, which collects money from the people's pockets," he said.

Yesterday, EPF revealed it had disposed all its FGV shares over the year and no longer has any stake in the company.- Mkini